ROADS, AND THOSE IN TRING

THE TURNPIKE COMES TO TRING

It is incredible to learn that such an absurdity should still occur in an age when Britain’s trunk road system as we  know it today was taking shape, but such was the case.

The Tring to Bourn Bridge turnpike

This chapter deals mainly with the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Trust, which for over a century administered the highway connecting Bushey Heath and Aylesbury, via Watford, Kings Langley, Two Waters, Berkhamsted, Tring and Aston Clinton.  Most local readers will have heard of it.  What is less known is that for a short period towards the end of the 18th century a second turnpike road extended from Tring to Bourn Bridge in Cambridgeshire.  The Bourn Bridge turnpike, or at least the Tring to Royston section of it, appears to have been short-lived, but the reason for its early demise is a matter of conjecture.

In 1769, two turnpike trusts — the Stevenage and Biggleswade in conjunction with the Hitchin and Bedford — sought to take over a large section of the Icknield Way.  However, in that year a separate turnpike trust was established to administer the road in two districts, from Tring to Baldock and from there to Bourn Bridge near Pampisford in Cambridgeshire.  Subsequently the trustees obtained an Act:

When the Act became due for renewal in 1790, the trustees published a curious advertisement in the press in which they informed the public that they would meet at the Sugar-Loaf Inn, Dunstable, on the 24th September 1790, to decide for which of three options they would renew their powers.  Each option referred to a different section of road; option 1, was for the entire road from Tring to Bourn Bridge, while options 2 & 3 were for the sections between Dunstable and Barton, and between Barton and Baldock respectively.

One presumes that the turnpike road as originally set up wasn’t paying its way and the principal aim of this meeting was to decide what part of it was worth keeping and making the subject of a renewed Act of Parliament.  The outcome was that the section of road from Royston to Bourn Bridge continued as a turnpike until it was discontinued in 1874, [1] but it appears that the Tring section was abandoned as a turnpike in 1790 and reverted to a parish maintained road, for there is no further mention of Tring in connection with it.

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The Kilburn Bridge to Sparrows Herne turnpike

As the 18th century progressed, the population of London grew. This led to a corresponding increase in road traffic, including a considerable weight of livestock being driven on the hoof to the London markets.  But the roads of the time were rarely up to the job of conveying the increasing volume of traffic, as is evidenced by a petition presented to the House of Commons in 1711.  This stated that the section of the London to Watford road from Great Stanmore to Kilburn was so damaged by the multitude of carriages and passengers that it was almost impassable for six months of the year.  Roads in such condition had an obvious detrimental impact on trade, and this gave impetus to the formation of the Kilburn Bridge to Sparrows Herne Turnpike Trust, who obtained “An Act for repairing the Highway between a certain Place called Kilburn Bridge, in the County of Middlesex, and Sparrows Herne, in the County of Hertford” (10 Anne c.3) to administer the offending section of highway. [2]

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The Sparrows Herne turnpike
 

A further half century was to elapse before the turnpike road was extended towards the rapidly developing industrial town of Birmingham (which became a city in 1889).  In December, 1761, newspaper advertisements appeared soliciting the names of those willing to sign a parliamentary petition to create a turnpike trust to manage the 26-miles of road between Sparrows Herne at Bushey and Walton on the outskirts of Aylesbury, there to join the Wendover and Buckingham turnpike: [3]
 

The Act being granted, the board of trustees acquired powers . . . .
 

. . . . in return for which they received the legal right to charge traffic on the road a toll according to a schedule set out in the Act, the revenue so raised to be spent on maintaining and improving the road, and on administration.  Cary’s road map of 1790 covers the joint routes of the Kilburn Bridge and Sparrows Herne turnpikes from Hyde Park to Tring ― see Appendix I.

The rates of toll were to be painted on notice boards displayed at each turnpike gate.  Some categories of vehicles and travellers were permitted to use the turnpike free of charge, these being corn and grain going to market; unladen carts; carts carrying manure for the parish; ploughs, harrows and instruments of husbandry; animals going to shearing, pasture or water; soldiers on the march; vehicles carrying the Royal Mail; vagrants being returned to their parish of domicile; vehicles carrying voters to elections; and those attending church or funerals (however, to encourage observance of the Sabbath, from 1803 vehicle traffic was charged double the toll on Sundays).

As the tables below illustrate, the tolls changed over the years and new classes of traffic, such as the stage coach and steam-powered vehicles, were added.
 

The Sparrows Herne turnpike thus became a link in a chain of turnpike roads extending from London via Kilburn, Watford, Buckingham and Warwick to Birmingham.

The volume of traffic with the capital increased rapidly.  By the early 19th century the turnpike had become a decided success; indeed, in describing Berkhamsted, one writer felt inspired to mention it:
 

The turnpike attracted many new residents to its locality. In 1808, before its surfaces were macadamised (around the 1820s), Tring could be reached from London by way of the Edgware and Sparrows Herne turnpikes in 5½ hours; by the 1830s, when the stagecoach business was in its prime, the same journey took 15 minutes less:
 

The turnpike trustees

The trustees first met on the 7th July, 1762, at the King’s Arms, Berkhamsted, [4] nine being present at the initial meeting.  The relevant page of the Trust’s minute book is illegible in places, but among the names written clearly are Thomas Herbert Noyes, John Sear of Grove (now Grove Road, Tring), John Dashwood King (later baronet), and Windmills Crompton.  Those present “took and Subscribed the Oath as directed by the said Act before they took upon themselves the Trusts and Authoritys vested in them by the said Act”.  The room taken in the King’s Arms being too small to accommodate the remainder of the trustees, they then “Adjourned to the Schoolroom in Berkhampstead Saint Peter to meet immediately”.  Charles Gore M.P. of Tring Manor took the chair, and a further 115 trustees were then sworn, plus two Quakers who were affirmed. [5]  Among those present were no less than 20 members of the clergy.

Throughout its existence the Trust included a sprinkling of distinguished members, among whom were the Justices of the Peace of Hertfordshire and of Buckinghamshire; members of the nobility (such as the Duke and the Earl of Bridgwater; the Marquis of Salisbury; the earls of Essex and Clarendon; and Viscounts Lake and Grimston); and local notables, who over the years included the distinguished surgeon Sir Astley Paston Cooper, landowner Sir John Dashwood King, Thomas Toovey, owner of the Kings Langley flour mill, the paper manufacturer John Dickinson, and one Joseph Hamilton, described in the 1823 Act as a Doctor of Divinity.  Until 1773, the general turnpike law of the time did not mandate property qualifications, but trust Acts often included such provisions. [6]  In the case of the Sparrows Herne Trust, the trustees were required to fulfil certain property qualifications or possess personal assets to the value of £1,000.

The law required the trustees to meet annually, although particularly in the early years when there was more business to conduct the Sparrows Herne trustees met more often (there were also frequent meetings during the major road improvement projects that took place in the 1820s).  As the early road improvements were completed, trustee meetings became less frequent and less well attended.  In 1771, too few attended the full meeting to elect new trustees, but such declining interest among the trustees corresponds with the experience of turnpike trusts in general.

Clerk, treasurer, surveyor and gate-keepers

The roles of a turnpike trust’s clerk, treasurer and surveyor are described in Chapter 2.

William Hayton junior, a solicitor resident at Stocks House, Aldbury, served in the dual role of clerk and treasurer from the Trust’s inception until his retirement in 1806, discharging both roles throughout on an honorary basis. [7]  Harry Grover, a solicitor from Hemel Hempstead, then served as treasurer and clerk at a salary of £50 per annum until 1822, when these roles were separated by law. [8]  Grover then relinquished the position of Treasurer, but continued in his paid employment as Clerk for a further four years.

Following Grover’s retirement, William Smith and Charles Ehret Grover, solicitors of Hemel Hempstead, served as joint clerks to the Trust until Smith resigned in 1856, having being declared bankrupt.  Grover then continued assisted by his partner, William Stocken, his practice handling the legal work until the Trust was terminated in 1873.

Following the separation of the roles in 1822, that of treasurer continued to be held on an honorary basis by, among others, the Earls of Bridgewater and of Clarendon, and the royal surgeon, Sir Astley Paston Cooper, who later became a fierce opponent of the 1832 London & Birmingham Railway Bill.

The first surveyor was Paul Jollege ― appointed at the trustees’ second meeting “according to his said proposals” ― at a salary of 100 guineas per annum from which he had to provide two foremen and equipment, which included two ploughs, sixteen wheelbarrows, forty pickaxes and forty shovels.  He received periodic cash sums from the trustees with which to pay expenses as they arose.  The role of surveyor was later held by the distinguished road engineer, James (later Sir James) McAdam.

Among the least distinguished of the Trust’s employees were the gate-keepers, although they later left the payroll when the management of the toll-gates was contracted out.  While in the Trust’s employ, gate-keepers received rent-free accommodation and a wage of 10s 6d a week for manning their gate day and night, from which they were expected to provide lamp oil to illuminate the gates during hours of darkness.  They were also required to provide the trustees with a surety for £20 against dishonest conduct.

Few gate-keepers were literate, and thus able to keep proper accounts, while the random nature of the business made the misappropriation of funds difficult to combat.  All that was possible was to carry out spot checks on toll income to see if it corresponded with daily averages for the period, and by checking receipts against the types of traffic observed to be passing along the road.
 

A cross-country packhorse train

It is interesting to note from the above advertisement, that women sometimes occupied the post of gate-keeper.  The need for day and night attendance, and to extract the appropriate toll from uncouth packhorse and livestock drovers, must at times have made the gate-keeper’s lot an arduous one.  Some examples of turnpike offences are listed in Appendix II.  Two of the Trust’s gate-keepers were murdered for their takings (Chapter 7), hence the trustees . . . .
 

The pistols were subsequently acquired for the sum of £7.

Gate-keepers’ living conditions appear to have been primitive.  In 1816, the toll-house at New Ground, Tring, was found to be in poor condition.  The fireplace and wash house needed repair due to the walls falling down, and new bolts, window shutters and a bell were needed.  But apart from structural problems, the condition of the place reflected badly on its tenants, for their backroom was found to be very dirty and full of hens and chickens, and the interior was in need of whitewashing.  The condition of the road labourers could not have been any better:
 

The Trust’s toll-gates.

At their first meeting, the trustees had to decide where to locate their toll gates.  Following objections from Lord Hyde (who did not want a gate near his mill) and from Lady Essex, that at Hunton mill was relocated to a position between Ridge Lane and Nascott Farm house (in the Hempstead Road).  Four toll gates were eventually set up, and, with some relocation, these remained until 1860 when a fifth gate was erected at the top of Tring Hill.  These five remained in use until the Trust was terminated in 1873.  Several of the gates also had ‘side-gates’ (a.k.a. ‘side-bars’), which were fitted across roads that led off the turnpike, their purpose being to prevent traffic from avoiding the toll by using side lanes to bypass the toll-gates.  Turnpike roads were also well fenced, again to prevent traffic avoiding the toll by making a detour through adjacent fields.

From Bushey northwards, the toll-gates were located at:
 

The early days

At the outset there was much work to be done.  Land for widening was bought (sometimes given), toll gates erected, and brick toll-houses for the gate-keepers were built at a cost of around £25 each.  Flints and pebbles were gathered by villagers from the fields as part of their statutory road labour obligation, which, together with gravel supplied from local pits, were spread over the road after it had been levelled, cleared of obstacles, and the ruts filled in.  Oak mile posts were erected showing distances from London measured from the beginning of the Tyburn turnpike.
 

Other improvements were teams of horses to help traffic up steep hills, the felling of trees along the line of the highway, and making the road a uniform width.  The Trust could prosecute those with land bordering the road for failing to keep their hedges and fences in good repair so that neither overhung the road.  Good fences were particularly important.  In November 1762, Isaac Dell (who held land bordering the Wigginton Road and the toll gate at New Ground) was paid 10s. a pole (5½ yards) to set quickset hedges strengthened by oak stakes and beech rails, and he was paid the same rate for maintaining them.  Good hedges prevented travellers bypassing the toll gate through adjacent fields and livestock from straying onto the road.  Luke Lewin, a builder from Abbots Langley, was employed to build a new bridge at Hunton mill.  He was paid 40s a rod (5½ yards) for the brickwork, the trustees found the materials, and the miller was paid 10s a day compensation for each day he was required to let down the water in the millpond during the work.  To help pay for these improvements, the Clerk advertised in the London Chronicle for a loan for £2,000 with interest at five per cent secured on the tolls, the first of numerous such loans raised by the Trust.

Although the bulk of the annual 6-days per man statute labour went towards maintaining the parish roads, turnpike trusts were entitled to a proportion of it, 2-days per man in the case of the Sparrows Herne.  Thus, until statue labour was abolished in 1835, the surveyors of the parishes through which a turnpike passed (not to be confused with the Trust’s surveyor) were required to provide the trustees with lists people liable to perform unpaid statute duty and to provide draught teams and wagons.  As an alternative, the parish could pay the Trust a cash sum in lieu of statute labour — after 1807, Hemel Hempstead and Watford regularly paid ‘composition’ money, Watford remitting £40 in 1809. Jollege, the turnpike surveyor, set to work using three gangs of twenty men each, the Duke of Bridgewater (the ‘Father of Canals’) supplying gravel free of charge from his pits.

By 1764, sections of the road from Hunton Bridge to Berkhamsted were in use, and use of the whole road appears to have commenced in 1765.  The road was then divided into sections, with one or two men taking care of each: for instance, two men looked after the section through King’s Langley parish up to the Bell at Two Waters, each being paid 6s a week.

In 1770, the trustees decided that a new bridge was required across the Colne at Watford, and advertised for a contractor to undertake the work.  They awarded the contract to Edward Gray of Bushey, builder, for the construction of a seven-arched brick bridge “over the water at the bottom of Watford Town”.  Member of Parliament Thomas Herbert Noyes, referred to in the bridge advertisement above, must have been a hard man to work for, in times when life was hard.  In this entry, written in Constables’ Accompts for a vestry meeting on 13th October 1767, he left instructions for curbing labourers’ perks:
 

Road modernisation

It is interesting to note the unflattering remarks made by the great Civil Engineer and road builder, Thomas Telford, on the state of the London to Birmingham road via Watford.  While his opinion was not directed solely at the Sparrows Herne Trust, it might have influenced the trustees’ thinking, for a “crooked, narrow, and ill constructed” road was unlikely to attract the lucrative stagecoach traffic between the expanding town (as it then was) of Birmingham and the Metropolis:
 

During the 1820s, the Trust undertook a major road improvement programme.  Aspects of this appear to have first been considered some years before any work commenced, for in 1816 the Clerk advertised for a contractor to reduce the gradient from Aston Clinton to the summit of Tring Hill to one foot in seven yards (1:21, or 4.8%), but nothing further was done at the time.
 

In 1822, the trustees appointed James McAdam Surveyor to the Trust. James was the second son of the famous road engineer John Loudon McAdam, and at the time of his appointment to the Sparrows Herne had acquired a substantial reputation as a road engineer, to the extent that he had . . . .
 

Following McAdam’s appointment, his fee was set at £100 per annum and that of his assistant, Mr. Creed, [9] at 52 guineas per annum.

The Trust then set about an extensive modernisation programme, work that was carried out under McAdam’s overall direction with Creed doing the detailed planning, sourcing the materials and supervising activities.  As the task involved realigning and extending sections of the existing road, an Act of Parliament was required to give the Trust powers for the compulsory purchase of land and the demolition of existing buildings.

However, by this time it had also become necessary to renew the Trust’s powers, last granted in 1803 for the usual period of 21-years (43 Geo. III c.39, 1803).  And so the 1823 Act (4 Geo. IV c. 64, 1823) both extended the Trust’s term and included the powers necessary to acquire private land for the realignment of the road through Nascott Farm (north of Watford), and also for its extension from Walton into Aylesbury.  Those particular sections of the Act are somewhat detailed, but an extract from its Preamble summarises the trustees’ objectives:
 

Following the passage of the new Act, the trustees met to consider their programme of improvements:
 

At the same meeting the Clerk was instructed to ask the Exchequer Loans Committee (in effect, the Government) “if the money wanting to compleat (sic.) these works can be obtained from that Committee”, [10] while the Surveyor:
 

Other than the improvements at Nascott and at Aylesbury, and some cottages to be taken down at Hunton Bridge, the 1823 Act does not refer to a number of other projects that were planned at this time, [11] while the only enlightenment offered by the Minute Book is that the tender submitted by James Bull of Tring was accepted for unspecified work at Dunsley . . . .
 

. . . . the “Lord of the Manor” being William Kay, builder of the Tring Silk Mill, who was paid £248 15s for the land used for this particular scheme, while the tenants of the cottages referred to received compensation totalling £4 17s.

The extension of the turnpike from Walton into Aylesbury also involved tenants “quitting”, the property to be demolished including the Crown Inn, which, in the custom of many public houses at the time, brewed its own beer.  [12] This is evident from the sale notice below, for the trustees were quick to auction the resalable demolition materials to help finance the cost of the work.
 

Auction advertisement for the sale of materials from the properties demolished during the construction of the Aylesbury extension, Bucks Gazette, 25th March 1826

Press advertisements also appeared seeking loans, first for £10,000 with interest at 4%, but when there were no takers and the loan was eventually raised at 4½%.  A further £1,500 with interest at 5% soon followed, both being secured on the toll income.

The turnpike improvement programme at Aylesbury was completed in January 1827:
 

The turnpike extension resulted in the demolition of old property that was choking the town centre, and the opening up of the town centre:
 

From 1864 onwards, Parliament began to terminate turnpike trusts. This was achieved through the Annual Turnpike Continuance Acts, each of which identified specific turnpike trusts for repeal, while continuing the remaining trusts for a period of approximately 12 months. This arrangement continued until the final annual Continuance Act in 1885, although, oddly, the final turnpike trust ― that administering the Shrewsbury to Holyhead Road ― was not repealed until 1st November 1895.
 

The termination of the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Trust

Following the expiry of the Trust’s last Act in 1866, until its termination on the 1st November 1873 (36 & 37 Vict. c. 90, 1873) its existence in law was continued under the provisions of the Annual Turnpike Acts Continuance Acts.  Following its termination, responsibility for maintaining that part of the former turnpike road in Hertfordshire passed to the Highway Boards of the Watford and Hemel Hempstead Districts, except for those parts that lay within the areas of the Watford and Tring Local Boards of Health.  In Buckinghamshire, control passed to the several parishes and to the Aylesbury Local Board of Health.

During its existence of over a century the Trust was successful in, as the Act described it, “amending, widening, altering, and keeping in Repair”the highway between Sparrows Herne and Aylesbury; and unlike many others, the Trust remained solvent until its closure having by then repaid all its debts.

Following the sale of its assets, the net surplus was used to pay compensation for loss of employment to the surveyor (£200), the clerk (£80), the roadmen and the foreman (£20 & £10 respectively), and the balance (£380 9s. 9d.) was distributed among the parishes upon which the liability for future road maintenance would fall, in proportion to mileage.
 

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APPENDIX I.

Cary’s schematic road map of the London to Tring route, July 1790.
(Edgware - Kilburn turnpike; Sparrows Herne turnpike).

Note the sharp turns in the road at Hunton Bridge, Kings Langley and Tring,
which the Trust removed during the 1820s.

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APPENDIX II.

EXAMPLES OF OFFENCES COMMITTED ON THE TURNPIKE ROAD

Many of what today would be classed road traffic offences are recorded in the newspapers of the time. The following are a few examples of the more typical.

FORCIBLY PASSING TURNPIKE-GATE. Timothy Cunningham was charged with forcibly passing through the turnpike gate at the entrance to the town of Watford, in the Sparrows Herne Trust, with a horse and van, without paying the toll demanded of him. The CHAIRMAN said that on looking over the information, he found that it was laid under the Highway Act instead of the Turnpike Act, and this appeared to him to be a fatal mistake. The prosecutor was at liberty to take out a fresh summons, and also to proceed against him for the assault. If, however, he wished the case to be settled now, the Bench were willing to go on with it. The defendant begged that the case might be disposed of before the Court broke up, as he had come from a great distance. Ultimately, by permission of the Bench, the parties settled the matter out of doors.

Hertford Mercury, 18th October 1851

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REFUSAL TO PAY TOLL. James Worcester was summoned for evading the toll on the Watford Turnpike-gate in the Sparrows Herne Trust. Thomas Hart said on Friday, the 27th ult., the defendant passed through the chain bar at the Watford-gate, on the Pinner Road, with a horse and cart loaded with dung. In the course of an hour or more he returned with the cart empty. He passed through the Watford-gate. This was in a contrary direction to his own house. On being asked for the toll he refused to pay it, and said that he was entitled to pass through free, as he had carried dung. As he persisted in his refusal to pay, witness unbuckled the nose-bag from his horse, and took it into his house. Defendant requested to be shown the Act of Parliament, and when it was produced he said he could not read it. He subsequently went into the house, and carried away the nose bag. Fined 5s. and 13s 4d costs.

Hertford Mercury, 11th September 1852

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OBSTRUCTING THE HIGHWAY. George Bone, Rickard King, and Ephraim Hunt, travelling hawkers, were charged with obstructing the highway, by pitching their stands on the side of the Sparrows Herne turnpike road. The charge arose out of the following circumstances: Watford fair being on the 5th, the defendants did not pack up and leave on the early part of the following day. This being the case, it was presumed that they had intended to continue the fair for the second day, to which course some of the inhabitants had an objection. The defendants said they had hired the place of Mr. Wilson, who had rented the tolls of the Earl of Essex. They had always been allowed a day to put up before, and a day to take down after the fair. They were packing up about eleven o'clock, when they received notice to leave, and were doing so as fast as they could; but at one o’clock they were served with a summons, which they considered rather sharp practice. Mr. CLUTTERBUCK said the police had exceeded the orders he gave them. The charge was dismissed by the Bench. On one of the men claiming compensation for coming there at a great inconvenience and from a great distance, he was told there was no funds available for that purpose.

Hertford Mercury, 16th June 1855

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REFUSING TO PAY TOLL. Mr. William Miller, surgeon, of Kilburn, was charged under the 139th section of the Act, with refusing to pay toll at the Bushey Gate, on Wednesday, the 12th August. Police-constable Grover proved the service of the summons: and deposed that the defendant said he could not attend, and supposed he should have to pay. Edgar Allen Gotch Said he was collector at the Watford Toll Gate, on the Sparrows Herne Trust. The defendant endeavoured to pass through the railway arch to the station without paying toll. There was a chain side bar and the defendant having gone more than a hundred yards on the turn-pike road complainant asked him in a civil manner for the toll. He refused to pay and witness asked him for his card, which he gave him. The defendant than demanded the ticket, and on witness‘s declining to give it him till he had paid the toll, the defendant threatened to horsewhip him, and several times called him a vagabond and a scoundrel. This evidence having been confirmed by a gentleman named Robert Bacon, the defendant was convicted and fined £1 and £2 5s. costs.

Watford Observer, 22nd August 1863

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RIDING WITHOUT REINS. Henry Ruben Nash, was charged with driving a hay cart on the Sparrows Herne turnpike road, without holding the reins. Mrs Nash appeared for her husband. Police-constable Jennings said on the night of the 13th, between eleven and twelve, he saw the defendants hay cart going down the High street of Watford, with no one driving. He found the defendant lying on the hay asleep. He was going towards London. Fined 1s. and 11s 6d costs. The money was paid.

Watford Observer, 23rd July 1864

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FRAUDULENTLY CLAIMING EXEMPTION. Richard Mortimer: I am a toll collector at the Watford gate, on the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Trust. On the 21st November, the defendant came through my gate with a horse and cart. He was coming from London. I demanded the toll of threepence, and he said he had dung in his cart and claimed exemption. I then examined the contents of his cart and found it had no dung. There was only some wet straw with a fork stuck in it. He said “It is the first time I ever did it. I’ll hope you’ll forgive me, and I’ll pay the toll.” He came back again and offered me a shilling which I refused to take. There was no one with him.
Cross-examined: You had gone twenty yards beyond the gate before you would stop.
By the Bench: There was no dung in the cart.
The defendant said there was dung in the cart and called the following witness:—
William Hobbs, brother of the defendant: The defendant started with some old thatch which had been under his cart all night.
Defendant said the toll-keeper was tipsy at the time, and threatened to knock his head off.
The defendant was convicted and fine £1 and 15s. costs, or one month’s imprisonment.

Watford Observer, 16th December 1865

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ASLEEP IN CHARGE ON THE TURNPIKE. Where the driver of a cart refuses to give his name, the owner may be summoned. You [Lovegrove] are brought here because your man refused to give his name . . . .
Police-constable Dunn: Last Friday week, the 22nd June, I was going along the road and saw the defendant riding at full length in the cart. He was fast asleep. When I awoke him he refused to give his name. I took the name from the cart. He afterwards gave the name of Chesham.
Lovegrove said he knew nothing about it. He paid the man his wages and did not see what he had to do with this complaint.
John Chesham deposed: I was fast asleep in the cart when the constable woke me up. I told him my name was Chesham. I had been out two nights and was very warm and sleepy.
The defendant was fined 1s. and 15s. costs. In default of payment in a fortnight to be committed fourteen days.

Watford Observer, 7th July 1866

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FURIOUS DRIVING ON THE TURNPIKE. Police constable Hammond stated: On Friday, the 24th June, I was on duty in the High-street a little after 9 o’clock in the evening, when my attention was called to a mob of persons near the shop of Mr. Turner, confectioner. I went there, and while I was dispersing the mob, which had been gathered together by two men fighting, the defendant, in company with another young man, drove a pony and cart down the street very furiously indeed. He did not offer to pull up, but drove into the crowd, knocking down an old man named Sears and running over his thighs The defendant and his companion were nearly thrown out of the cart. The old man fortunately escaped serious injury . . . .
Mr. Turner, confectioner, said that the defendant went at a very smart rate, but he would not call it ‘furious’ driving. The rate was eight or nine miles an hour. He told the defendant that it was very imprudent to go through a mob at the rate he did.
Fined 5s., costs 18s. 6d.

Watford Observer, 9th July 1870

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APPENDIX III.

CIVIL ENGINEERING DURING THE 1820s.

During the 1820s a considerable amount of civil engineering work was carried out on the Sparrows Herne turnpike road. The following is a chronological summary of the related press notices that appeared during this time.

“The Sparrows Herne Trust are making another very excellent improvement in their line of road, by cutting through the steep chalk hill, at the London entrance of the town of Watford, so as to reduce the hill nearly one half. We are informed that it is the Earl of Bridgewater’s intention to cut an entire new line of road, so as to avoid the present dangerous entrance into the town of Tring, and also that it is in contemplation to lower Beggar Bush Hill, between Tring and Aston Clinton, which will most certainly be a great public benefit, as that hill in Its present state is dangerously steep.”

The New Monthly Magazine, Volume 13, 1820

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“The trustees of Sparrow's Herne turnpike road, have in contemplation an improvement of considerable importance to the public; that is by diverting the present road through the ground of Nascott Farm, at Watford, so as to enter the present line again at the sixteen mile stone. By these means will be avoided the dead heavy ride from Watford down by the park pales of Cashiobury.”

The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, 1st April 1821

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A great deal of alteration was announced to take place at the Aylesbury end of the turnpike, including new roadwork that involved the demolition of a number of buildings:

“. . . . A FURTHER APPLICATION will be made for leave to include in such Bill POWER TO ALTER or DIVERT the COURSE of the SAID ROAD, commencing at or near the Turn or Curve in the said Turnpike-Road, beyond the dwelling house of Joseph Senior, Esq. in the Hamlet of Walton and proceeding through certain Inclosures, Lands, Grounds, Messuages, Buildings, and Premises (as delineated on the Plan deposited with the Clerk of the Peace for the County of Buckinghamshire) into the High Street of the Town of Aylesbury, between the Market House and the Shire Hall, and for Powers to take down the necessary Buildings for the purposes aforesaid, which deviation is intended to pass from, through, or into several parishes or places of Walton and Aylesbury in the said County of Buckingham.”

Bucks Gazette, 18th January 1823

. . . . a further notice informed the public that the road was to “join and communicate with the Oxford, Buckingham, and Cambridge roads near the George Inn, at Aylesbury.” Despite the demolition involved in extending the road, the plan appears to have gained favour with the public:

“We understand that the Trustees of the Sparrows Herne Turnpike, at their meeting on Monday last, decided upon applying to Parliament for powers to vary their road at the entrance of this town [Aylesbury], by making a new line through the Crown Inn and Hale Leys, and thence in a direct line over the fields, to join the present road near the residence of Jas. Senior, Esq. We cannot but congratulate our neighbours upon the very great improvement that will be made to the town of Aylesbury by this judicious plan of the Trustees, which will lay open the principal street near Kingsbury, that is now so narrow and dangerous.”

Bucks Gazette, 15th March 1823

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Meanwhile another realignment of the road was planned for the vicinity of Hunton Bridge:

“NOTICE is hereby given, that a BILL is now depending in PARLIAMENT . . . . in which Bill provision will be made for diverting the course of the said road at or near Hunton Bridge, in the Parish of Abbott’s Langley, in the said county of Hertford, such Deviation to commence at a certain place in the said road called Hunton Bridge Knapp, in the said parish of Abbott’s Langley, and proceeding in a north-west direction across the Weir Meadow, in the said parish of Abbott’s Langley, belonging to the Earl of Essex, cross the river Gade, and the Grand Junction Canal, and through certain Inclosures of the Rev. Sir John Filmer, Bart. in the parish of Abbott’s Langley aforesaid, to join and communicate with the said turnpike-road, at the hand-post, at the three cross-ways on the western side of the Grand Junction Canal Bridge, at Hunton Bridge aforesaid . . . .”

Bucks Gazette, 29th March 1823

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Realignment of the road at Dunsley, Tring:

“TO ROAD CONTRACTORS, &c. SUCH Persons as are willing to CONTRACT for excavating and forming the proposed ALTERATION of the Sparrows HERNE TURNPIKE ROAD, commencing at Dunsley, near the town of Tring, and proceeding into the town, near the pond, are desired to send tenders in writing to the Office of Messrs. GROVER and SMITH, Solicitors, at Hemel Hempstead, Herts, on or before the 20th day of July instant, to be submitted to the Trustees at a Meeting on the 21st instant. A Plan and Specification of the Works may be seen at the Rose and Crown, Tring; or at Messrs. Grover and Smith’s. July 4th. 1823.”

Bucks Gazette, 19th July 1823

Cutting and embankment to be formed at Beggar Bush Hill (now known as Tring Hill):

“TO ROAD CONTRACTORS, &c. SUCH Persons as are willing to CONTRACT for the necessary works in CUTTING THROUGH and LOWERING BEGGAR BUSH HILL, on the Sparrow's Herne Turnpike Road, between Tring and Aston Clinton, are desired to send Tenders in Writing to the Office of Messrs. Grover and Smith, Solicitors, at Hemel Hempstead, Herts, on or before the 6th Day of December next, to be submitted to the Trustees at a MEETING on the 8th of DECEMBER. A Plan and Specification of the works may be seen at the Rose and Crown, Tring; the Bell, Aston Clinton; at the Office of Messrs. Grover and Smith; and at Mr. Creed’s, Surveyor, Hemel Hempstead.”

Bucks Gazette, 22nd November 1823

“The Contractors, (under the direction of Mr. Creed, the Engineer to the Trust) have commenced the work of lowering Beggar Bush Hill, and we congratulate the public on the advantage they will derive from the above improvement, and most cordially join in commending the liberal spirit and judicious arrangements evinced by the Trustees of the Sparrow's Herne Turnpike throughout the whole of their recent various alterations, following up with a similar zeal the example set them by their late lamented noble Chairman [the Earl of Bridgewater], whose activity and perseverance in promoting public improvements are too well known to require comment.”

Bucks Gazette, 27th December 1823

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Realignment of the road with a new canal bridge at Hunton Bridge:

“TO ROAD CONTRACTORS, BRICKLAYERS, &c. SUCH Persons as are wiling to CONTRACT for the necessary Works in ERECTING the BRIDGE over the GRAND JUNCTION CANAL, and making the New Road at the proposed Deviation of the Turnpike Road at Hunton Bridge, between Watford and King’s Langley, Herts, are desired to send Tenders in Writing to the Office of Messrs. Grover and Smith, Solicitors, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, on or before the 12th Day of April next, to be submitted to the Trustees at a Meeting on the 13th Day of April. A Plan and Specification of the Bridge and Works may be seen at the Office of Messrs. Grover and Smith, and at Mr. Creed’s, Surveyor, Hemel Hempstead. 25th March, 1824.”

Bucks Gazette, 10th April 1824

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Meeting of Trustees to discuss new entrance at Aylesbury:

“Monday se’nnight [23rd May, 1825] was held, at the King’s Arms Inn, Berkhamsted, pursuant to adjournment, a meeting of the Trustees of the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road, to decide on the proposed new entrance into Aylesbury. The Marquis of Chandos, the Earl of Clarendon, and between 20 and 30 Trustees attended. The result of the meeting was an unanimous resolution to adopt the measure, with a trifling deviation from the line marked out by Mr. Creed and Mr. McAdam. The undertaking, it is said, will be commenced without delay.”

Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 28th May 1825

Compulsory purchase of property at Aylesbury; £10,000 loan:

“At a meeting of the Trustees of the Sparrows Herne Turnpike road, held at the George Inn, Aylesbury, on Saturday last, all the persons having property on the intended line of road from Broughton, acceded to the offers made to them by the Trustees for purchase, with one exception. It will be seen by an advertisement that £10,000 are wanted on the security of the turnpike-tolls.”

Bucks Gazette, 18th June 1825

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£10,000 loan to pay for road works:

“MONEY ON TURNPIKE TOLLS: THE trustees of the Turnpike Road leading from Sparrows Herne, on Bushey Heath, through Watford, Berkhamsted St. Peter, and Tring, in the county of Hertford, to Walton, near Aylesbury, in the county of Buckingham, having occasion to take up at interest TEN THOUSAND POUNDS for Improvements going on projected on the said Road; any persons who may be disposed to advance money at Four per cent. on security of the Tolls, are requested to signify the same to us for the information of the Trustees, specifying the amount they will lend on the above terms, and the period at which they will advance it, the whole not being immediately required. Particulars of the revenues of the Trust may be had on application to us. By order of the Trustees. June 13th, 1825.”

Bucks Gazette, 18th June 1825

In May the Trustees advertised for a further loan to pay for “Improvements taking place”, on this occasion seeking £1,500 with interest payable half-yearly at 5%.

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“Sparrows HERNE TURNPIKE SUCH Persons as are willing to CONTRACT for the ERECTION of a TOLL-HOUSE and TOLL-GATES by the side of the New Road into Aylesbury, are required to send Tenders in writing, to the office of Messrs. Grover, Smith and Grover, solicitors, at Hemel Hemspsted, Herts, on or before the 17th day of June, to be submitted to the Trustees at a meeting on the 19th. A plan and specification of the works may be seen at the White Hart Inn, Aylesbury, or at Messrs. Creed and Griffin at Hemel Hempsted.”

Bucks Gazette, 10th June 1826

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FOOTNOTES

 
1. Bourn Bridge Road Turnpike Act 1769 (8 & 9 Geo. III, c. 86). This Act was renewed at intervals until the road was ‘deturnpiked’ under the Annual Turnpike Acts Continuance Act 1873 (36 & 37 Vic. c. 90).
 
2. This turnpike (10 Anne c.3, 1711) seems to have made little difference to the state of the road, for in 1798 it was said to have four inches of mud after heavy rain in summer and nine inches all the winter. (Victoria County History, London, 1971.)
 
3. From Bushey northwards, the turnpike followed much of the route of the old A41 trunk road. Since re-classification, the route today approximates to the A411 from Bushey to Hunton Bridge; A4251 to Upper Dunsley; B4653 through Tring; Tring Hill (B4009); London Road; Aylesbury Road; Aston Clinton Road; Tring Road; and the A41 into Aylesbury. Ordnance Survey maps identify sections of the route in the vicinity of Tring lying over the remains of the Roman Akeman Street.
 
4. All subsequent meetings were held at the King’s Arms until the last, which took place on 23rd March, 1874, at the Berkhamsted Union Workhouse.
 
5. Far fewer attended the Trust’s meetings regularly, the number sometimes falling below the quorum of nine. Important meetings, particularly those held during the 1820s when significant changes to the road were being made, were often chaired by a titled person.
 
6. The General Turnpike Act 1773 introduced a mandatory property qualification, confirmation of which came within the oath that Trustees were required to swear (later Acts included a provision for Quakers to affirm):

“I ‘A.B.’ do swear, That I truly and bona fide am, in my own Right, or in the Right of my Wife, in the actual Possession and Enjoyment, or Receipt of the Rents and Profits of Lands, Tenements or Hereditaments, of the clear yearly Value of Forty Pounds; or possessed of, or intitled to a Personal Estate to the Value of Eight hundred Pounds, (as the case may be). So help me GOD.”

The General Turnpike Act 1773 (13 Geo. III., C.84)

The General Turnpike Act of 1822 (3 Geo. IV. Cap.126) changed the property qualifications:

“TRUSTEES: No person to be or act as trustee, unless he is possessed of freehold or copyhold property of the clear yearly value of £100, or be heir apparent to a person possessed of such property of the yearly value of £200, and unless he take oath accordingly. Except within 10 miles of the Royal Exchange, when £10,000 in personal property is to be a sufficient qualification.”

The General Turnpike Acts, W. K. Dehany (1823)

 
7. Following his appointment, Hayton was required to provide the Trust with a bond for £500 in respect of his “truly accounting”. On his retirement, he was presented with a piece of silver plate valued at 100 guineas and later became a trustee.
 
8. The General Turnpike Act 1822 (2 Geo 4 c.126). The role of Clerk continued to be discharged by Grover’s firm until the Trust was wound up in 1873.
 
9. Possibly George Creed of the partnership Creed and Griffin, surveyors and auctioneers of Hemel Hempstead.
 
10. The Exchequer Bill Loan Commission was set up under The Poor Employment Act 1817 to help finance public work projects that would generate employment. Commissioners included the civil engineer Thomas Telford. The trustees received a reply from the Commissioners, which was discussed at their meeting on 21st July 1823, but whatever terms were offered, the “Trustees resolved it would be more expedient to borrow Money necessary for these Improvements of Individuals, and the Clerk is directed to make the necessary Inquiry for procuring the same of persons willing to advance it.”
 
11. Road improvements referred to in the minutes at this time (but not specified in the 1823 Act) for which no clear details are given, include realignment of the road at Hunton Bridge (including a new bridge) and at Cow Roast; work at Dunsley, presumed to be the realignment of the road around the hamlet to its present course; reducing the gradient of Beggar Bush Hill (i.e. Tring Hill); and work at Aston Clinton.
 
12. According to Aylesbury historian Robert Gibbs, the Crown Inn was not demolished, but . . . .

“By the formation of the New Road [i.e. the turnpike extension], in the year 1826, the Crown Inn was much reduced in extent, and was subsequently altered in its general character.  It has of late years been so modernized as scarcely to be known as ‘the old Crowne’ of former years.  It once had its intersecting gateway-entrance and other prominent features incidental to old hostelries, indicating the commercial character for which it was originally erected.  Before its alterations, made consequent upon the formation of the New Road, it had much of the character of the King’s Head, and was probably a building of about the same date, but of greater extent in its appurtenances; it had gardens, a bowling-green, extensive stabling, and out-premise cohering a large area. Its principal frontage was to the Market Place, but was intercepted by encroachments; its position resembled that of the King’s Head.”

Buckinghamshire: A History of Aylesbury with Its Borough and Hundreds, Robert Gibbs (1885)

 
13. The General Turnpike Act 1773 (13 Geo. III c.84 art. 31).

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